Apparatus for purifying air



L..1. SANA.

APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING AIR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27. |919.

)Patented 00h 3L E922,

19415341@ Jl 54h 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

www

, L. 1.*SAN. l APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING Al'Rv. APPLICATYION FILED JUNE 2T, 1919.' 1?@345154, Patented @on 31,119@

2 SHEETS-,SHEET 2.

NETE@ 'PAVNT LOUS JAMES SAN, OE NEW YORK, N. `Z.

Application file APPARATUS 'EGE UBYNG AIE.

To all whom #may concern:

Be it known that a citizen of the 3 West 92d Street, New county of 'have invented certain n e provements in Apparatus declare the following Air; and l do hereby l, Louis United States,

JAMES SAN, residing at York city, in the New York, State of New York,

w and useful lmfor Purifying to be a full,`clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

rll`h1s invention aratus for purifying the from smoke,

into interiors relates to an improved apair introduced dust, and like impurities suspended therein.

ln certain interiors,

for` example, in

laboratories engaged in the production and reproduction of motion picture films, it is important for the. air

entirely free introduced to be from dust and smoke particles such as are commonly found in considerable amount in ordinary air. drying operations, such films, are carried out, it

Moreover, where as the drying lof is important for a I continual supply of fresh air to be introduced so that 1t may assist in the drying operation and be continually content becomes efficient drying,

of yobtaining a conits moisture effective and is therefore presented tinual supply of fresh dry air renewed as above that of The problem free from even finely divided particles of-r the charlf even the smallest par- Y ticles of dust or smoke are allowed to come in contact with the of a film,

these particles will adhere and fect in the film when defect is multiplied and becomes increasingly objectionable if the tle upon a negative positives made therefrom ingly defective.

Various expedients film, inasmuch osed for purifying the moist gelatin surface while it is undergoing drying,

cause a dereproduced. This dust particles setas all will bexcorrespondhave heretofore been air introduce into motion picture laboratories, including the washing of the air move the dust however, tends drying capacity, so that to be heated to an appre perature to increase its therefrom.`

to increase the air and correspondingl with water to re- Such treatment, the humidity of y ,decrease its it usually requires ciably higher temdrying properties.

d June 27, 1919. Serial No. 307,200.

According to the present invention, the purifica-tion of the air introduced into m'otion picture laboratories and other interiors is urified without moistening thereof so that it is suppliedto the interiors. in its normal state of dryness, but nevertheless freed from dust, smoke and like suspended particles. lThe purifying of the air, may, with advantage, be combined with the heating thereof so -that its drying capacity will be thereby increased, and so that the purified air in a warm, dry state is supplied in a continuous or regulated manner to the interior.

The improvements of the present invention arejparticularly adapted to the purifying of air for motion picture laboratories and like interiors wherethe development, reproduction,V and dryingl of motion picture films takes place; but they are adapted for use for other purposes andjfor other buildings, wherever it may be important or desirable to provide a continuous or regulated supplyvof dry air free from dustand smoke.

According to the present invention l subject the air entering from outside to a preliminary filtering through a fine mesh! screen, and I then pass it through a series of zigzag or labyrinthine passages having their surfaces moistened with an adhesive or sticky material, such as petroleum jelly, i

so that the air has its direction repeatedly and abruptly changed and so that it is thereby brought into repeated contact with the moistened surfaces, withthe result that/ i the particles of dust and smoke in suspension in the air arecaused to adhere to the ymoist surfaces and are thereby eliminated, while the purified air passes to the interior where it is desired. Either prior to, or after, such purification, the air may be warmed lor heated to the ,desired degree, for example, by passing it over or in Contact with steam or hot water heated radiators, pipe coils or the like.

rlhe zigzag or labyrinthine baffles and passages provided according to the present invention may advantageously be made in the form of removable sections each of which is separately removable for `cleaning and for renewal of the moist coating thereon. The individual baffle lplates of these `separate sections may themselves be permanently afxed thereto or may be separately 'remov- I 55 moist humid weather,

ablel therefrom, for purposes of cleaning or for'renwal vor repair.' The invention will be further described in connectionv with certain'v embodiments thereof illustrated in 4the accompanying drawings; but vit -will b e understood that the invention is illustrated by and yis not limited to, the specific embodiments `thus illustrated and describe p j l0 In the accompanying drawings-,-

' Fig.l l shows, in a conventional and some- -what diagrammatic manner, and in vertical section with parts in elevation, one embodiment illustrative of the invention;

line 2-2 of yFig'. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of F 'ig'. 1 ;y

Fig. 4 is a horizontal line 4.-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 1s an enlarged sectlon taken on the o, horizontal sectional view of part of-'one of the sections5; Fig. 7 shows onel of the sections with the removable baffles removed therefrom;

Figi 8 shows one ofthe removable baiiies; Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional vie-w with parts in elevation showing, a 4modied vem- -bodiment of ythe invention;

Fig. '10 is a View taken on Vthe line 10-10 OfFig".9; .r`

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional view of two of the sections2L of Figs. 9 and 10; and

trating the construction of the sections 5a.

In thev embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, the outer wall of a room or interior is indicated at l i 40 and va window or opening in this wall at.2. Secured to this window or opening, and suitably `supported as by the hanger 6 from the ceiling, is the casing or conduit 3 havling therein a line mesh screen 4 and. the

removable sections 5 which. form the labyrinthine or zigzag passages above referred to. Beyond these sections and passages is arranged a radiator'7 which maybe used to heat the air entering the room. It 'is 5o equallyA adapted for luse as a refrigerator, by" passage of cold brine therethrough to cool the air entering the room where this may be desirable. Ordinarily, however, for motion picture interiors, and especially. in

steam-drying .of the air .will be desirable.

'f The screen 4 is preferably a metall fabric screen, for example, of bronze, and of appr'opriate fineness, such asfabout 90 mesh. This screen is preferably removable so that it can be 'washed or otherwise cleaned to remove the particles of dust or smoke ad- Vhering thereto. In the course of a day a screen of the fineness referred to will re- "move a very considerable amount of dust Fig. 2 is al sectional view takenfon the' Fig. 12 is a` vertical section further illusf and( dirt from the air entering through the apparatus; lbut suchv a screen can be readily cleaned .by washing or brushing.

That portion ofthe conduit `3 containing the removable sections 5 is provided with a suitable closure, indicated conventionally at 8, by means of which 4the conduit may be closed when in use, orl access had whenremoval of the sections for cleaning or for other purposes becomes desirable..

The removable sections, as illustrated in Rigs. 3 to 7, are made of topi and bottom plates 10 and 11 of suitable material, such as sheet steel, and of 'si-de frame members 14 which may-be of ga vanized sheet metal bent into the shape shown and suitably secured tothe top-,and bottom frame members 10 and 11 by riveting, soldering, or otherwise. The side frame members 14 are of a general triangular cross section, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 6, so that they give added strength to the frame, and .so that thek diagonal portion thereof forms a diagonal baffle. Secured to the top and bottom frame' vmembers 10 and 11 are diagonally arranged guides12 vriveted or otherwise secured thereto and with upturned edgesbetween which the diagonally arranged baiiie plates 9' are to be slid. rI hese baflie plates r9v may be of galvanized sheet metal andmay have onel orboth of their edges turned so that they are thereby lstiffened, as indicated in Fig. 8. The bottom frame l1 may have an upturned flange on .one edge thereof to limit the movement of the baiile plates when inserted, or other suitable means may be provided for preventing the baffles from oing too far. A flange or similar meansisy 4particularly desirable where the sections are to be arranged ,horizontally instead of vertically; v o' f That portion of the conduit `3 which contains/the sections 5 is provided with suitable guides?)a as best shown inFig. 5, for holding the sections spaced apart and in proper position. l v

'As above stated, the -diagonally 'arranged bales 9 and the diagonally arranged portions of the side frames 14 are coated with petroleum jelly or other moist material to which the particles lof dust or dirt will adhere'.l In referring to a moist material,- I 'do not limit the'material toA petroleum jelly, nor do I mean a material whichlwill moisten the air, but rather any suitabley materia] which is unobjectionablebecause of its odor or its tendency to vaporize, and which will -maintain a sticky or adhesive hereand be thereby removed from the air.

Compositions such as are used on sticky ily paper can thus be used. I have found ordinary petroleum jelly well adaptedfor use at ordinary temperatures for the purification of air entering motion picture laboratories. ln hotter or colder climates or weather the material may require to ce modified so that it will remain sticiy or particular temperature .peatedly and abruptly changed so that repeated opportunity is given to the particles or dust or smoke to come in contact with and be held by the moist or adhesive surfaces ot the baipdes. W ith the ordinary moderate tlow ot air required by a motion picture laboratory l have found that the lirst few battles will remove almost all oit the dust and smolre and that the bales beyond the first few remain relatively Ytree from dust and dirt tor long periods or time. lt is therefore the `first tewl baffles in particular which require occasional or periodic cleaning and renewing ot the adhesive or sticky coating thereon.

li'hen it is desired to remove the sections for cleaning or renewal they can be readily removed by opening the door lt then it becomes ot importance to remove the separate battles 9, and the entire section and its parts be thereby readily exposed for cleaning and renewal ot the sui-tace coating.

lilies. 9 to 1B inclusive show a modined n n u ,n .v In embodiment oi the invention. ln the construction ot these figures similar parts to those ot lligs. l to 7 are indicated by the same. reference numerals with the suffix a appended thereto, similarly made up ot upper and lower 'frame members l:L and ll and sidemembers and they have similar diagonally arranged bali'les Sk These battles, however, in this modification ot the invention are permanently secured to the trame as by soldering, bi'aaing or otherwise and lower 'trame member "lla may be provided with flanged edges, as indicated in llig. l2, to assist. iii holding the battles in place,

rlhe arrangement ot the apparatus illustrated in lligs. t and l() is likewise somewhat diilerent trom that illustrated in li'ligs. l and Q, and illustrates another of the many toi-ms in which the invention may be embodied. ln this modification, the opening trom the outside is indicatedv at 2O and has the screen e therein corresponding to the screen Llot l. rl`he battles 5l are larranged in l'our series indicated respectively at 2l, 2:2, Q3, and 2d. rlhese sections are held in place by a suitable trame worlr of which the upper, central and lower members are indicated conventionally at 26, and QT. rlhe sections 5 are held in place in the iframe work in any suitable manner., tor example, by the upright holding members this can readily be done,

'lhe sections 5a are thus' 28 and 29 and the horizontal holding meriber 30.

rlChe arrangements of the battles of this modilied form ot invention is generally similar to that of the modification first described. 'lhere are provided a series of diagonally arranged battles forming zigzag or labyrintliine passages through which the air passes and in which its direction is trequently and abruptly changed so that the particles of 'dust anddirt carried thereby are brought in contact with the moist surraces ot the battles, moistened with the adhesive or sticky material.

"the means ior effecting the introduction ol the air is not illustrated, but may suction or exhaust fan by means ont which the air is either drawn into the room or r'orced out at another portion of the room. lt will be evident that it an exhaust tan is arranged to draw air from the room and torce it outsice, a corresponding amount ot Nitresh air will be drawn in.. lin the modification of Figs. 9 and 10, 'the conduit 3l will convey the purified air portions of the room desired, and'this air may be passed over heating or cooling coils,

(not shown) for the purpose ot heating it.

or copling it, as may be desired, llt will be evident that a suitable suction tan (not shown) may be connected to the ,conduit 3l to bring about the necessary introduction oiC air through the apparatus. y

'inasmuch as the ordinary windows and doors permit great deal ot air to enter thereby, it interior is to be kept Jr'ree trom dust and dirt, that the 'introduction ot air-through the ordinary means be prevented. llt is tliereiore, important, in motion picture laboratories and like places, to seal the windows so that no air can be introduced to the room orI is important, it the air in the therethrough or around the usual window Jrames. is also important that any doors leading to the outside should be similarly provided with means that will prevent ingress of iinpuritied air. llt is ot course neeessary for the fresh air introduced to be ultimately removed in corresponding amount. Such removal may be permitted the air is through the usual doors, in case forced into the room, or it may be removed by specially provided exhaust openings provided or that purpose. lil/'here the air is torced into the room by means of a suitable tan, the natural outflow ot the air around any doors will tend to prevent inflow 'ot air from this source.

instea .or intro ucing air rioni out oi doors through the purifying apparatus above described, air may be in part recirculated from the interior through the pulil@ llh

ritying apparatus, and the relative amounts t *n* t l l o riesh air infor uced, and the room which is reeirculated may n L 'a or che ail in be regulated and varied.. For example, Where the air in the room is still dry and is capable of taking up considerable moisture, it may be in part recirculated through the apparatus and admiXed with fresh air from the outside. Thus, in Winter time, it may be possib'le to recirculate part of the Warm air and thus avoid the necessity for introducing a large amount of cold air. Where the air is to be used for drying there Will bea limit beyond which effective drying IWill lnot take place and it Will accordingly be necessary to introduce sufficient fresh air to enable the air as a Whole to perform its intended drying function. In the modification of Figs. 9 and l() a Separate door or opening 32 is provided by means of which access to the apparatus may be had, orvair importance.

from the interiorl yintroduced to combine with air entering through the Window 20. When suction is applied to the outlets 31 it Will then draw air in part from the outside and in part from the opening 32.

The apparatus of the present invention is adapted for use generally Where the puriication of air from dust and smoke is of lt can thus be used in connection with heating systems Where the air l during heating is contaminated lwith smoke separating l, particles of dust and the like u therefrom, comprising a casing and a plurality of frames arranged one behind the other in removable relation therein, each of saidframes supporting a plurality of smoothsurfaced b'aiiles -diagonally disposed with plurality of smooth-surfaced baffles diagonally disposed with reference to the frame and adapted to form zig-zag passages With the balles of adjacent frames, said baffles being coated with a material which is adapted to catch and hold particles of dust and the like. l'

3. An apparatus for purifying air by separating the particles of dust and the like therefrom, comprising a casing and a plurality of frames arranged one behind the other in removable relation therein, each of said frames having triangular-shaped side members and a plurality of smooth-surfaced baffles arranged so as to form zig-zag passages With the side members and adjacent baliles,vsaid baiiies being coated with a material which is adapted to catch and hold particles of dust and the like.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

Louis JAMES san. 

